Thrift stores, restaurants and pediatric dental practices are helping to fuel retail leasing across the country, but business owners should be prepared to face limited availability, said Nichole Popovics, the new president of retail brokerage TSCG.
TSCG's quick-serve restaurant clients also are looking for space for new outlets in a national retail market that, according to CoStar data, is 4.4% vacant. To help tenants find space, her company's occupier clients are considering nontraditional options.
They're "looking at creative space, maybe looking at something different that the client wouldn't always consider in the past," Popovics told CoStar News. Retail brands that need space "are getting a little bit more creative these days," such as in Miami, where Sir Thrifty, a boutique thrift shop that sells vintage pop-culture goods, opened at The Citadel, an industrial-adaptive reuse project.
TSCG is a boutique brokerage based north of Atlanta with 20 offices across the country, mostly along the Eastern Seaboard. The company named Popovics, who joined TSCG in 2021, as president in May. She succeeded Sam Latone, who transitioned to co-chair and will continue to serve as co-CEO with David Birnbrey.
Watch the video to see why Popovics says thrift stores are growing in popularity and whether consumers can keep spending amid continuing economic uncertainty and elevated gas prices.